


But It's Warm Over Here By the Fire

by paroxferox



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anal Sex, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Marvel RarePair Exchange, Other, Snowed In, Threesome - F/M/M, this makes it sound longer and more explicit than it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 06:39:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2841680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paroxferox/pseuds/paroxferox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A snowstorm that keeps Tony and Pepper from heading back to New York is really all that Rhodey could ask for from a Christmas Eve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But It's Warm Over Here By the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Marvel RarePair Exchange fic for voicessayhello on tumblr! I hope you like it!

“It’s really coming down out there,” Pepper says a little worriedly, twitching the curtains open to peer out of Rhodey’s front window into the gathering snowstorm. Tony crosses the room to join her, looping an arm around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder as they both stare out into the thickening snow.

“Looks bad, Rhodey.” Tony’s voice is breezy. “They’re probably going to have to cancel the jet - oop,” he pauses as his pocket beeps, extracts his phone, and taps it a few times, frowning at the display. “Yep, that’s Happy. Airport’s shut down, no jet tonight, and Happy’s stuck there. I’m sure he’s _thrilled_.” He lets go of Pepper and turns back to Rhodey, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a nonchalant little shrug. “Looks like we’re going to have to spend the night here, pal.”

Truth be told, those are words that Rhodey has been waiting to hear. The holiday season is busy for Tony; it’s been years since Rhodey has had more than a few minutes with him on or around Christmas - excepting The Year That Christmas Was A Shoot-Out, which doesn’t count because getting blown up is directly contrary to the holiday spirit. He wasn’t expecting Tony to show up on his doorstep Christmas Eve Morning with Pepper and a pile of gifts. He _definitely_ wasn’t expecting Tony to stay for dinner - especially not with a snowstorm on the horizon. But Tony does what Tony does, and Rhodey’s not going to question it if it means he actually gets to spend Christmas with two of his best friends in the world.

As happy as it makes him that he’ll _finally_ get Tony to himself for the holidays, it’s obvious from the look on Tony’s face that he’s waiting for a token protest. And far be it from Rhodey to disappoint Tony Stark. “I’m pretty sure your _suit_ works in the snow,” he says pointedly, but by the time he finishes his sentence, Tony is already helping himself to Rhodey’s liquor cabinet, humming “White Christmas.”

“Nope, not this one. No de-icing function, still too early in development. Sorry, guess we’re stuck here.” As if Tony Stark could be _stuck_ anywhere. He’s not sorry, he’s lying through his teeth - and Rhodey knows it. He rolls his eyes in Pepper’s direction, and she gives him a sympathetic little smile and closes the curtains.

“California,” she says, presumably by way of apology as she comes back to sit beside Rhodey on the couch. “I couldn’t drive in the snow if my life depended on it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rhodey mutters, not going to let Tony have the satisfaction of _knowing_ the resistance is all for show. “How’s this going to affect the big Stark Christmas Day Bash?” he asks. “You’re gonna be late for your own party.”

Tony shrugs. “Is this the best whiskey you have? You need to step up your game. I’m embarrassed for you,” he answers as if he never heard the question. “I should have gotten you better booze for Christmas.”

“So you could drink it?”

“So you wouldn’t get made fun of the next time you have company. Seriously, man, I’ve seen NYU girls with better taste in scotch than you have, you should be ashamed of yourself.” But all the complaining in the world isn’t going to stop Tony from drinking, and he hands Rhodey a glass anyway before flopping down beside Pepper to sip at his own. “Cheers,” he says.

“Cheers,” Rhodey answers. They clink glasses.

Pepper gets up and pours herself a glass a minute later. “Last person standing washes the dishes tonight,” she says grimly. “Cheers, boys.”

The power goes out an hour into their drinking, not entirely unexpected but entirely unwelcome when the wind is howling outside and the late-December chill is already creeping in the windows. Rhodey lays a fire in the hearth and stokes it to a blaze while Tony rattles around in the basement, trying to fix the broken-down generator. He settles back onto the couch and loops an arm around Pepper’s shoulders, and they sit in silence, drinking cheap whiskey and letting Tony’s voice ( _“Seriously? You have a generator and it’s not well-maintained and you don’t even have gas for it? It’s like you don’t even know where you live! As soon as I have the chance to fly home and get my tools I’m coming back and building you an arc reactor, this is shameful, Rhodey, shameful, you’re a disgrace…_ ”) wash over them from downstairs.

“It’s nice to hear him enjoying himself,” Pepper says calmly after a burst of explosive swearing echoes up the stairwell. She ruins the deadpan by giggling explosively and shifting on the couch, pressing in a little closer to Rhodey. He hugs her tightly.

“Good to have him here,” he answers. “Good to have both you guys here.”

“Good to be here.” Pepper buries her face in his shoulder, and Rhodey runs his thumb down her spine. “Thanks for putting up with us tonight.”

Rhodey laughs. “I can’t exactly turn you out in the snow, now, can I?”

“You could,” Pepper mumbles into his neck, “but you wouldn’t get the extra body heat. And I get the feeling we’re going to need that tonight.”

It’s been a while since they’ve fucked, all three of them. After Pepper’s promotion, when Iron Patriot was still the prototype War Machine and Tony wasn’t the mess New York made him, it felt like they were getting the chance every weekend. Hearing Pepper suggest it now sends a shudder straight down his spine. “Warm each other up the good old-fashioned way, eh?” He chuckles and hugs Pepper around the waist. “I like the sound of that.”

“Like the sound of what? Your generator’s garbage, by the way, I’m buying you a new one literally as we speak, merry Christmas, Pepper you took my spot.” Tony literally doesn’t stop talking as he sprawls onto the arm of the couch, reaching for his whiskey glass and making a plaintive noise when it comes up empty. “Who drank this?”

“You did,” Rhodey and Pepper say in unison. Then Rhodey disentangles from Pepper and stands up. “Anyway, Pep and I were thinking we could have some fun tonight. You guys have nowhere to be, and it’s not like this is going to be magically melted first thing in the morning. If you’re going to stay the night...” he grins and cherishes the way Tony’s Adam’s apple bobs when he gulps. “It’ll be just like old times.”

“Old times,” Tony says, and he licks his lips and swallows hard again before talking. “Yeah, I...could go for that.”

It’s exactly what they wanted to hear. Pepper stands up and sweeps the glasses off into the kitchen in a smooth motion that completely conceals the amount of whiskey she’s had. Rhodey pushes the table aside and pulls a cushion off the couch while Tony heads for his bag. It’s been a long time, but the habits don’t die easy. As he strips off his shirt and steps out of his pants, then helps Pepper unhook her bra, Rhodey is privately grateful for that.

Tony never looks better than he does spread out between the two of them, Rhodey thinks. He’s _always_ attractive - that’s a fact, not an opinion, according to _People_ magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive poll (two years in a row). But the way he looks in on his back, with Pepper kneeling over his face, his fingers digging into her hips hard enough to leave tiny bruises, his legs spread and twitching wider apart while Rhodey presses into him, _that_ is something entirely private and _unbelievably_ hot.

And _Jesus_ , has he missed Tony’s ass.

The heat’s been out for at least two hours, but it hasn’t gotten to any of them yet. The ends of Pepper’s hair are damp with sweat against her back, and Tony is sex-flushed from neck to toe, the whiteness of his scars standing out against his dark flush in the firelight. For his part, Rhodey’s panting a little, but he’s nowhere near as flushed and sweaty as Tony is. Maybe Tony’s out of practice - or maybe the fact that Pepper’s controlling when he breathes is working him up hard and fast. Either way, Rhodey’s just getting started, and Tony already looks like he’s ready to bust.

“You haven’t been doing this while I’ve been gone?” he asks, drawing out a little and pushing back in, savoring the way Tony whimpers and spreads his legs more. He’s teasing right now; right now, Tony needs to be focusing on Pepper. She gets hers first. It’s how it’s always been with the three of them. “You’re tight as hell, Tony. Pepper hasn’t been fucking your ass?”

“We’ve been doing other things,” Pepper says breathlessly, trailing off into a high sound as she shifts her weight forward. “He’s - _ha_ \- he’s been working on a lot of thi-is, actually, god yes, Tony, good, just like -” whatever she wanted to say next is lost as Tony hums against her, and Rhodey thrusts himself deeper, earning a startled noise from Tony that seems to go straight through Pepper, judging by how her back arches. He has _missed_ this in a way he didn’t realize; his stomach clenches as he watches Pepper throw her head back and gasp, grabbing presumably at Tony’s hair and mouthing his name. These two. _These two idiots_.

_This one idiot and his amazing girlfriend._ _His_ idiot and (part-time) girlfriend. _These two._ This is all he’s wanted since New York broke Tony. He wanted things to be _normal_ again, and for once, they are.

It’s enough for him to just stay buried in Tony and watch the two of them for a while, feeling Tony’s pulse against his dick (it’s weird, how bodies work, but he tries not to think _too_ much about it) and his own heartbeat racing in every extremity. They’re _gorgeous_ together, and Rhodey can’t help but feel a little jealous that he and Tony never had that kind of easy synchronicity when it was just the two of them, but when Pepper comes in an explosion of giggles and slumps down onto the carpet, murmuring praise to both of them indiscriminately, he more or less forgets any bad feelings.

“Good?” he asks quietly.

“Great,” Pepper answers in a far-away voice, a sliver of white showing at the edge of her top lids. “ _So_ great.”

“Good,” Rhodey says, and he means it. “My turn.”

The couch cushion helps with the angle of Tony’s hips, and it gives Rhodey leverage to actually _fuck_ him, the way he knows Tony likes. If he was teasing while Tony tonguefucked Pepper, he’s going in earnest now, deep and hard and fast with his eyes on Tony’s face the whole time. Tony is watching him, too, or at least trying to - his head keeps falling back, eyes half-shuttered, whenever Rhodey gets the angle right. His right hand is on his cock but mostly still, like he can’t quite remember to keep doing it with Rhodey fucking him as hard as he is.

It’s possible that he can’t. Tony’s always been brilliant, but when it comes to stimuli, he’s never been a particularly _good_ multitasker. And without anything to occupy his mouth, he _talks_ , a constant stream of words, maybe half of which have meaning. “Ohhh god - oh god, Rhodey, I had completely - _aahnn_ \- forgotten how good this is - why aren’t we doing this constantly - you need - _hah, wow_ \- you need to move in, do this all the time - _jesus christ_ -”

“Shut up,” Pepper murmurs affectionately, and Rhodey laughs breathlessly, fucking him a little deeper and harder and trying his _damnedest_ to keep going until Tony busts. As much as he’s been ribbing Tony about it, his stamina’s not what it was when they were doing it weekly, and the intensity with which Pepper is _watching_ them, two fingers inside herself and her thumb on her clit is its own goddamn aphrodisiac.

“Tony, you’d better hurry up,” he gasps, “or I’m gonna come before you do, and you’ll be stuck finishing yourself off while Pepper and I pass out.”

In response, Tony grips himself a little harder, moves his hand fast on his cock, and the view is enough to set Rhodey off. He yells when he comes because _it’s his own house, he can if he damn well pleases_ , and Tony closes his eyes and _growls_ , clenching down _tight_ on Rhodey and getting in only a few more strokes before he goes himself.

“Good god,” he mumbles, apparently as _soon_ as he can talk again. “We...should do that more often. All the time. Starting today. In like an hour, maybe. I need time to recover.”

“Shut up,” Rhodey answers, and pulls him into a tight hug. On Tony’s other side, Pepper comes again.

They manage to get themselves cleaned up, dispose of the condoms, and stagger to Rhodey’s bed, Pepper promising all the way there that she’ll clean up the living room in the morning, before they collapse in a tangle of sweaty limbs and pass out half-under blankets, still giddy with endorphins and oxytocin.

The power comes on some time in the middle of the night, the sudden rush of the furnace restarting startling them all awake. Tony yelps and buries his face in Rhodey’s chest, and Pepper makes a shushing noise and spoons him tighter. Rhodey laughs and ruffles his fingers through Tony’s hair. “Just the heat coming back on, man,” he says. “You’re okay. Merry Christmas.”

“M’r Cr’ms,” Tony agrees. Rhodey pulls the blankets up to Tony’s ears, and he’s fast asleep again before Rhodey can even settle back down.

 


End file.
